lichtman



Oct. 25, 1932. C T N 1,884,003

MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed May 21, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTQ WITNESSES Harry 111, imam,

ATTORNEYS Oct. 25, 1 932. H, T A 1,884,003

MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed May 21. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR WITNESSES 4 .TilarryLifihfiflan/ W1 -Z y' BY ATTORN EYS Patented Oct. 25, 1932 UNITED STATES HARRY LICHTMAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Application filed May 21,

vide a musical instrument of the indicated character embodying means for changing the tunes.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a musical instrument of the indicated character which will be simple of construction, reliable in operation, and of novel and substantial design.

The nature of the invention and its distinguishing features and advantages will appear when the following specification is read in connection with the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a side View of a musical instrument, partly in section, embodying the fea tures of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a plan View, partly in section, of the instrument;

Figure 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Figure 1, the same being shown on a reduced scale;

Figure 4 is a view showing certain features of the spring motor;

Figure 5 is a detail view showing the means for rewinding the music record sheet or band on the empty spool.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings it will be apparent that there is shown a musical instrument structure in the form of an accordion which consists of two main sections, a casing section or frame 10, and a hand wind bellows 11 connected with the casing section 10. The casing section has a hand-piece 12 provided with a series of dummy keys 13, and the bellows 11 has a hand-piece 14 having a plurality of dummy 1930. Serial No. 454,426.

keys 15. The hand-piece 12 is secured to a panel or door 16 forming a part of the casing section 10, and hingedly connected as at 17 The panel or door 16 is held in the closed position by any suitable latching device 18. 5.5 It will now be apparent that the hand-pieces 12 and 14 may be gripped to operate the bellows 11 to produce the desired air pressure or wind. The chamber provided by the casing section 10 will be a vacuum chamber or reservoir which serves in conjunction with the bellows.

In accordance with another feature of the invention there is provided a reed bar 19 which is secured to a partition 20. The reed bar 19 is provided with a series of reeds 21, and wind passages 22, which correspond in number with communicating wind passages 23 in a tracker board 24 secured to the partition 20. Use is made of perforated music record sheets to control the vibration of the reeds 21, to produce the desired chords and tunes. Each music record sheet or band, designated 25, will be used in conjunction with a plurality of spools. One of the spools will be a pay-off spool, and the other spool will be a take-up spool. In the drawings the pay-off spool is designated 26, and the take-up spool is designated 27. It is to be understood that these spools may be used interchangeably as payoff or take-up spools.

In accordance with another feature of the invention, use is made of a spring motor 28 of any preferred construction, the same being arranged within the casing section 10. This spring motor 28 will include a rotatable spindle 29. The rotation of the spindle 29 is controlled by a pivoted member or lever 30 which operates in conjunction with a disk 31 of a governor 32, the latter controlling the speed of rotation of the spindle 29. The lever 30 has a handle 33 which projects eXteriorly of the casing section 10 in order to enable the player to manipulate the lever 30 to start and stop the rotation of the spindle 29. An arbor 34 on a flexible bracket member 35, secured to the wall of the casing section 10, is positioned to co-operate with the spindle 29-to hold the take-up spool 27 for rotation with the spindle 29. The pay-off spool is rotatably mounted by an arbor 36 on the motor 28, and an arbor 37 is positioned in axial alinement with the arbor 36. The arbor 37 is positioned on the top wall of the casing section 10, and is slidable and rotatable in a bushing 38 carried by said top wall. The arbor 37 has a collar 39. A spring 40 surrounds the arbor 37 and has one end in en gagement with the collar 39 and its opposite end is in engagement with the bushing 38. A

pin is arranged transversely of the lower end of the arbor 37 to present ends 41 diametrically opposite to each other which are received in slots 42 in the upper end of the payoff spool. The lower end of the arbor 37 projects into the spool 26 as at 43. The arbor 37 serves not only to mount the pay-ofi' spool for rotation when playing the instrument but also for rewinding the music record sheet or band on a spool which is to be used as a pay-oil spool. It will be obvious that the arbor 37 which has a knurled knob 44 may be rotated to cause rotation'of the payed spool, by reason of the provision of the pin ends 41 and slots 42. It will also be apparent that the arbor 37 may be retracted in order to remove the pay-off spool. It will also be apparent that by flexing the bracket member 35 the take-up spool may be readily removed when full, and the empty take-up spool may be readily mounted for rotation on the spindle 29.

The music record sheetor band 25 passes between a perforated retaining member 45 which is hingedly connected as at 46 with the lower end of the tracker board 24, and its upper end is releasably engaged with a pin or stud 47 on said tracker board.

Fromthe foregoing it'will be apparent that when an empty take-up spool is arranged on the spindle 29 of the spring motor 28, and a pay-ofi roll having a. music record sheet or band wound thereon is arranged on the arbors 36 and 37, that the record sheet or band may be passed over the tracker board 24 in the free end connected with the take-up spool. The lever may then be moved to one position to start the spring motor 28, which will cause the spindle 29 to rotate, thereby rotating the take-up spool, causing the record sheet or band to wind on the take-up spool from the pay-off spool. While the motor 28 is operating, the instrument may be manipulated to cause the bellows 11 to force air through the wind passages 22 and 23. This will cause certain reeds 21 to vibrate to produce the desired chords and tunes. The lever 30 may be manipulated at will to stop the motor 28 at any time. s

In accordance with another feature of the invention'there areprovided arbors 48 and 49, the former being positioned on the motor, and the latter being carried by a flexible bracket member 50 secured to a wall of the casing section 10. After the music record sheet or band has been wound on the takeup spool, the full spool may then be engaged with the arbors 48 and 49 for rotation. The free end of the record sheet or band of this full spool may be connected with the empty pay-out spool 26 and by turning the knob 44, the record sheet or band may be wound on the pay-off spool, as will be understood, for the purpose of enabling the record sheet or band to be played over again.

In accordance with another feature of the invention, the spring motor 28 includes a stem 51 which projects eXteriorly of the easing section 10,.and is adapted to accommodate a suitable key for rewinding the spring of the motor 28.

It is to be understood that the invention is not restricted to the precise arrangement of parts shown and described, as details of construction may be modified and rearranged without departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of which is limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

Claims:

1. A musical instrument in the form of an accordion having the combination of a casing, a hand wind bellows connected with the easing, a series of reeds within said casing which may be vibrated by operating the bellows, said casing having wind passages in registry with said reeds respectively, a perforated music record sheet to control said passages to cause the vibration of said reeds to obtain the desired chords and tunes, power means within the casing operable to cause themovement of said sheet in relation to the reeds, and means projecting exteriorly of said casing to control the operation of the power means.

2. A musical instrument in the form of an accordion having the combination of a musical sound producing device operable by wind, a hand bellows operable for the pur pose of directing wind into said device, a perforated music record sheet, means to mount said sheet for movement in relation to said device to control the wind to produce the desired chords and tunes, and power means to operate the first mentioned means.

3. A musical instrument in the form of an accordion having the combination of a structure including a. hand bellows adapted to be manipulated to produce wind; a musical sound producing device on said structure adapted to be operated by the wind, a perforated music record sheet, means on said strucm0 ture to mount said sheet for movement in relation to said device to control the wind to produce the desired chords and tunes, and a spring motor on said structure to operate the last mentioned means to cause the movement L15 of said sheet.

HARRY LIOI-ITMA 

